


Red Threads

by rikke



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gangster Matsuoka Rin, M/M, Minor Character Death, Non-graphic depictions of violence, Police Officer Yamazaki Sousuke, kind of Ramsuke x Rinardo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 14:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4669655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rikke/pseuds/rikke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rookie cop Sousuke is quickly rising in the ranks of the metropolitan police force, but it might have to do with his childhood friend, leader of the Sharks gang, Matsuoka Rin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Threads

The coffee at this particular cafe sucked and Sousuke made sure Rin knew it.

“This is the worst coffee I have ever had,” Sousuke said, leaning back in his booth. “And I’ve had the coffee you’ve tried to make before.” His hair nearly brushed the back of Rin’s head when he leaned back.

“I was five-years-old, Sousuke, you asshole,” Rin said and shoved his arm up on the back of the booth chair, elbowing Sousuke in the head.

“It made a big impression,” Sousuke said, smiling into his cup of far too acidic coffee. He could already feel his heart racing. He wished he could turn his head and see Rin’s expression, but they weren’t supposed to know each other. “And you haven’t made it for me since.”

“I wonder why,” Rin said dryly. “Why did you order coffee anyway, you idiot. It’s almost ten. You’re never going to sleep tonight.” His voice was low, nearly inaudible with the smooth jazz seeping through the speakers.

“It’s a cafe,” Sousuke answered. “What else am I supposed to get?”

“Decaf? Tea? I don’t know--something without so much caffeine--and stop distracting me,” Rin said. “How did the raid go?”

“Just a small time arms dealer,” Sousuke said. “The kid’s more into street racing than anything else.”

“Damn, I was sure we had a lead this time,” Rin said. He sighed. “Well, at least your arrest record’s still improving.”

Sousuke gave in to temptation and turned just enough to catch a glimpse of the red strands of hair brushing the hard wood of the booth bench they sat on opposite sides of. When he leaned back, he could smell the faint scent of cherry blossoms laced with the tang of blood and gunpowder.

“Rin…” he said.

“Don’t turn around, Sou,” Rin said, voice sharp but quiet. “You’re still in uniform. If anyone sees us together…”

“I know,” Sousuke said.

Rin sighed. “I’ll find you another lead.”

Sousuke heard the clink of cup being put down and the shuffle of cloth as Rin stood. “When will I see you again?” he asked as Rin paused by the booth and feigned adjusting the zip-up sweatshirt he wore over tight black trousers and his red button-up. Once, early on, Sousuke had asked Rin why the bright red and black, and Rin said it hid the stains better.

Sousuke allowed himself a look up at his pale white face and his teeth--teeth Rin had sharpened into points years ago when he’d formed the Samezuka Sharks. It made him more threatening, Rin had told him when Sousuke ran his thumb along the row of sharp teeth, and he remembered the bright, unblemished smile Rin used to give him. He’d pressed his thumb against a tooth until it broke skin and drew blood. When Rin scolded him but went to fetch a band aid, he felt relieved that Rin was still himself.

“I’ll let you know, Sou,” he said. Rin finished zipping up his hoodie and smiled down at Sousuke--one instant of warm red eyes--and then he turned and was gone.

Sousuke watched until Rin’s figure had gone through the cafe doors and disappeared down the street. Then he leaned back and took another sip of terrible coffee.

 

* * *

 

Twenty years ago, when Sousuke was six-years-old, he had gone to his best friend Rin’s house one afternoon like all the other afternoons that summer. But when he found the front door open and no one answered at his “ojamashimasu,” he walked inside.

“Rin? Gou?” Sousuke called. “Oba-san? Oji-san?”

He heard a quiet sniffle as he rounded the corner to the kitchen, and he saw red.

Red stained the white kitchen cabinets. Red trickled down the grooves of the wooden floorboards. Red pooled around Rin’s feet where he stood over the dead body of his father. The shirt Rin’s dad wore had been slashed to pieces along with the flesh on his back.

“Rin?” Sousuke said.

Rin turned to him then and began crying--a stream of fat, silent tears.

“Come...come over here,” Sousuke said, reaching out his hand. He remembered wishing it was bigger when Rin finally put his small, cold hand in his.

“Sousuke?”

Sousuke whirled around and stared at Gou who had apparently just woken from an afternoon nap because she was still rubbing her eyes and hugging the plush shark that technically belonged to Rin but Gou had monopolized.

Sousuke grabbed Gou with his other hand and dragged both her and Rin out of the house and to his own as quickly as he could. He remembered thinking he needed to find help. He needed to call the police. He needed to make sure his friends were safe and the killer wasn’t still in the house. Sousuke’s mother had called the police after taking one look at Rin’s blood-stained feet.

It had taken some time to get Rin to the hospital, for the police to come and speak to Sousuke. Later, he found out that Rin’s father had stayed home with Rin and Gou on his day off, while Rin’s mother went grocery shopping. Sometime in the space of two hours, the former Olympic champion had been stabbed seven times. They never caught the culprit.

For ten years, Rin remembered nothing about the whole event and everyone assumed he’d found his father’s body after the killer got away. For ten years, Rin was the same Rin that Sousuke had grown up with, went swimming with, raced down the streets with, and the only sign of PTSD he had seemed to be his selective amnesia that had blocked every memory of his father.

Then, Rin transferred to Australia to pursue swimming more seriously in middle school and the nightmares began--nightmares of pleading words, of a man with a knife, of strings of red splattered across a golden badge. Rin returned to Japan four years later during their second year of high school a changed boy.

“I saw it, Sousuke,” Rin admitted to him when they reunited after four years in Sousuke’s dormitory room at Samezuka High. “My dad’s killer--I saw him do it.”

“Who was it?” Sousuke asked.

“I don’t know,” Rin said and took a deep breath. “But he was wearing a police uniform. My dad was killed by a policeman.”

“Fuck,” Sousuke said and leaned against the wall where they sat on the bottom bunk.

“Yeah,” Rin said. He also leaned back. “Sousuke,” he said. “I came back to find him.”

“Your dad’s killer?” Sousuke asked, looking at Rin. “It’s been ten years,” he said. “He might not even work for the police anymore.”

“I know, but it’s somewhere to start,” Rin said.

Sousuke remembered looking at him, asking. “Why do you want to find him, Rin? You have a whole swimming career ahead of you--why does this matter so much?”

Rin looked at him, eyes crimson. “Because I can’t remember anything about my father. If I can just catch him, maybe--maybe, I can see Dad’s face again,” he said.

Sousuke took a deep breath. “I’ll help then.”

“No, this is something I have to do,” Rin said immediately.

“I saw it too, Rin,” Sousuke said. “Maybe not the act itself, but everything after. I want to help.” Because Rin had been his best friend ten years ago. Because Rin was still his best friend after all those years. Because Rin’s hand had been so small and clammy when he held it and pulled him out of that kitchen ten years ago. Because Rin’s hand was still slim and cold when he slipped it into Sousuke’s now.

Rin squeezed his hand and let go again.

The next day, he became Sousuke’s new roommate.

In the months following, they devised the plan together, argued, compromised, and argued some more. Eventually they jankened for it, and it was decided that come graduation, Sousuke would apply to enter the police academy, and Rin would join the local Iwatobi gang so between the two of them, they could cover both sides of the underworld of Iwatobi Town.

A year later, they graduated high school and the plan began. Sousuke went to Tokyo to go to the best police academy in Japan, and Rin joined the Iwatobi gang.

For a year, they never contacted one another.

Then one Sunday morning, Sousuke woke to the insistent ring of his cell phone.

“Who’s it,” Sousuke mumbled, eyes still shut and face half buried in his pillow.

“Sousuke, it’s me, wake up!”

Sousuke woke up at the urgency in Rin’s voice. “What is it? What happened?”

“I found a lead--Kisumi--”

“Kisumi...Shigino Kisumi? From Sano?” Sousuke asked. He was another classmate that they had sometimes played with.

“Yeah, he’s the leader of the yakuza here--you know that,” Rin said. “He said he heard from his dad--”

“His dad?”

“The old boss--damnit Sousuke, do you ever listen when I talk?” Rin said.

“I’m listening,” Sousuke said.

Rin sighed. “His dad apparently mentioned awhile ago that my dad’s murder had something to do with his Olympic swimming. Back in his competing days,” he said. “At least that’s what the gang here knows.”

“Okay…?” Sousuke said.

Rin sighed again. “Are you actually awake?” he demanded. “If my dad’s death had to do with his swimming, I need to come to Tokyo,” he said. “That’ll be where the real information is if it goes up as high as the Olympics.”

“You’re coming to Tokyo,” Sousuke said.

“Yes, and you need to stay put,” Rin said. “When it’s time for you to apply for a prefecture, make sure you stay in Tokyo. If it had to do with his swimming career, my dad did all his professional swimming in Tokyo or abroad--anyone he knew from that life will be in the city.”

“Okay,” Sousuke said. “Okay.”

Two years later, Sousuke graduated from police academy and took his first post. By then, Rin had formed his own gang in Tokyo--the Samezuka Sharks--small but slowly growing, and they started a routine. Every time Rin found some promising lead involving someone in the underworld, he’d either investigate himself, or if appropriate, tell Sousuke who would send inquiries and begin formal investigations with the hope of startling the killer out of hiding.

Five years later, the Samezuka Sharks were now a prominent gang in the Tokyo metropolitan area ruled by a man rumored to have sharp teeth and blood-red hair. Sousuke, meanwhile, had risen in the ranks of the Tokyo crime division. He and Rin called each other on the burner phones Rin made them get to schedule clandestine meetings in coffee bars or restaurants or movie theaters or aquariums. The meetings were always short, and phone calls shorter.

 

* * *

 

Sousuke lived alone in an apartment still largely unfurnished although it had been several years since he moved out of police academy dormitories. There were still cardboard boxes stacked half-opened in his living room that he’d never bothered to entirely unpack.

The only part of the room in full use was the wall in his bedroom that was covered by pictures and articles and studded with pins. Red thread wound around the pins, linking articles to people to locations in a tangled web so complicated that only two people in the world would understand it.

On occasion, he’d come home and find that a thread had been moved or an article added. On those days, he’d find a new six-pack of cola in his refrigerator, and sometimes a plate of tonkatsu--still warm. On even rarer occasions, he’d find pieces of red hair left on his pillow and the fading scent of cherry blossoms.

On those nights, he slept particularly well and dreamt of those long summer days spent in a small dormitory room--of early morning jogs with the dew clinging to their ankles as they ran through the park, of afternoons echoing with the splash of pool water in the natatorium, of nights sprawled on Rin’s bottom bunk plotting their future paths and knowing it would all come to an end come graduation.

Sousuke woke to the incessant buzzing of his burner phone.

“Rin?” he answered, dragging a hand over his face. “It’s been…” He squinted at the red digits of his bedside clock. “...less than four hours since I saw you.”

“This time it’s for real.” Rin’s voice over the cheap burner phone was fuzzy, but sharp. He rattled off an address and Sousuke was forced to scramble off his bed to find a pen and write it down. “Come over--fuck, he’s waking up--I gotta go. _Come._ ”

Then Rin hung up.

Sousuke groaned and got to his feet, dragging on the first pair of pants and shirt he found in his closet, snagged his keys, wallet, and both phones, and rushed through the door.

 

* * *

 

By the time he got to the address--a warehouse by the waterfront--Rin was already in interrogations. When Sousuke walked into the dim warehouse, he heard the sputtering and muffled shouting and located Rin who was holding a man face-down in a bucket of water.

“I can do this all day,” Rin was saying. “Until you talk. And you will talk. It’s just a matter of how soon.”

The man’s hands were tied behind his back as he struggled, but Sousuke recognized the uniform.

“You kidnapped a fucking policeman?” Sousuke said. “And called me?”

“You’re late. Did you get lost again?” Rin said, shooting a backward glance at Sousuke. “And I wasn’t going to, but he had a picture.”

“A picture?” Sousuke asked.

“Of my dad,” Rin said and shoved the man into the water a little more securely. The muscles on his forearms stood out where his red sleeves were rolled up. “I caught this guy selling those hallucinogens you confiscated last time--the idiot didn’t even change the packaging,” he said. “So I did a little investigation and this asshole had a picture of my dad.”

The man was starting to go limp. “You better let him up or he’ll really die,” Sousuke said.

Rin clicked his tongue, annoyed, and dragged the man’s head out of the water, slapping him a few times in the face as the policeman panted for air. “As soon as you’re awake, you’re going back under,” Rin told him. “Unless you tell me why the hell you have that picture and who the people in it are.”

“You should really take your underlings with you for something like this,” Sousuke said. “It’s dangerous doing something like this alone.”

“You know I can’t involve them,” Rin said. He glance at Sousuke. “Anyway, that’s what you’re here for.”

Sousuke snorted and shook his head.

The policeman coughed. “My partner will--”

“You can talk? All right, times up,” Rin said and dunked the policeman back under. “The picture’s in my back pocket,” he said. “Look at it and see if you recognize anyone.”

Given permission, Sousuke approached and reached into the back pocket of Rin’s tight jeans. He wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking or the dim lights of the warehouse or if Rin really was turning pink, and he let his hand linger.

“It doesn’t take that long to take out a photo,” Rin said.

“Those jeans are really tight,” Sousuke answered, but pulled the photograph out.

In the picture, Sousuke recognized Rin’s father, but whereas nearly all pictures he’d seen of Matsuoka Toraichi were of him smiling, arms around his teammates or family, in this picture, he was staring grimly at a second man in a police uniform, exchanging a package. In the background, a third man stood, face obscured by shadows but a distinct tattoo curling up his left arm--gangster. No one was looking at the camera.

“I don’t recognize them,” Sousuke said.

Rin sighed and pulled the policeman back up. “Where did you get the picture?” he shouted as soon as he pulled him upright. “You think this is bad? I’ll make you drink the fucking water until your stomach explodes.”

“My partner--”

Rin dunked him back under.

“Where did you snatch him from?” Sousuke said, wary suddenly. The man had been saying something about his partner.

“Grabbed him on his way out of the station,” Rin said.

“Was it before or after his shift?” Sousuke said.

“After…” Rin said but turned to look at him.

Sousuke had only taken a step toward Rin when the warehouse door burst open.

“Freeze!”

Sousuke froze.

“Let him go!” the order came.

Sousuke couldn’t see who was behind them, but judging by the footsteps echoing on concrete, there were multiple men. Rin had no chance of getting away--not alone.

“Officer, you can turn around.”

Sousuke slowly turned and lowered his hands. He counted seven policemen barricading the door. Rin never chose a location without more than one exit, though, and as he turned, he caught sight of the small door at the far end of the warehouse that seemed to have been overlooked--at least Sousuke couldn’t see any policemen coming out of it.

“Yamazaki,” one of the policemen said and Sousuke recognized one of his superiors at the bureau--Officer Mikoshiba Seijuurou. “Where’s your partner?”

He could feel Rin’s eyes digging into the back of his skull. Sousuke had two choices--he could continue faking it and pretend he’d gotten to the scene just before the other policemen--or he could try to help Rin get away.

“Yamazaki’s your name, huh,” Rin said. “Fucking piece of shit. Cuff me and get it over with.”

He heard the splash as Rin let go of the other policeman.

“Stand down,” Officer Mikoshiba said, and Sousuke watched his gun train somewhere behind him. This was bad.

Rin would make a run for it. They both knew Rin couldn’t afford to get caught--not when he was investigating police corruption. He would go to jail--go quietly missing--maybe a declaration of suicide in the paperwork like his father’s death had also been ruled.

“Rin,” Sousuke said.

“No,” he heard Rin say behind him.

“ _Rin_ ,” Sousuke said more insistently.

“You know him?” Officer Mikoshiba said.

“Sousuke, no--”

Sousuke ran toward Rin, shoving him toward the door. He caught a sight of the half-drowned officer, sprawled by the bucket surrounded by water, the shocked faces of two police officers as he turned, and Rin’s huge, startled eyes as Sousuke shoved him through the door.

Sousuke ran after him and followed as Rin ran behind another warehouse, ignoring the shouts and footsteps behind them.

“My bike is around the corner!” Rin shouted as they ran.

Then the shooting began--a deafening rattle of bullets into the ground. Sousuke felt the gravel sting his ankles as he ran.

He saw Rin straddle his motorcycle in front of him, revving the engine.

“Freeze!”

Sousuke turned and saw Officer Mikoshiba point his gun straight at Rin. Rin turned, his hair whirling in a red halo, eyes locking onto the gun in certainty of what was about to happen--

\--and Sousuke jumped.

He heard the bang before he felt the impact in his right shoulder, throwing him to the ground.

“Sousuke!” Rin screamed. “Get up!”

Sousuke felt the world spin, hands grabbing his arms, his entire right arm numb, and then he was on the motorcycle, leaning heavily on Rin as they rode away.

“Sousuke don’t you dare die,” Rin said and Sousuke could hear the wobble in his voice.

“I’m not...not…”

“ _Sousuke_ \--” he heard and shut his eyes.

 

* * *

 

When Sousuke woke up again, it was in a white room he didn’t recognize. Sunlight streamed through a window, and a warm breeze ruffled the white curtains. His shoulder throbbed, and when he looked down, he saw red hair spilled all over the white sheets, warm in the sunlight.

“Rin,” he said, and reached to touch him. Sousuke winced as he moved his shoulder, but rubbed a lock of Rin’s hair between his fingers.

“Mm...Sou…” Rin mumbled, eyelashes fluttering to show a sliver of his amber eyes. “Sousuke…” He abruptly sat up and stared at Sousuke for so long that Sousuke thought he might still be half-asleep. Then his face crumpled. “Sousuke, you fucking idiot! I hate you!” he said and punched him in the arm.

Pain shot through Sousuke’s shoulder and he winced. “Ow,” he said. He felt like all his limbs were heavy and weak--probably from whatever drugs had been given to him.

Rin drew back immediately. “Does it hurt a lot?” he asked. “I’ll go get the doctor--”

“It’s fine,” Sousuke said and began sitting up. “As long as you stop punching me.”

He let Rin help him arrange the pillows behind him so he could sit upright in the bed. “Where am I?” he asked, looking around. The room was neat but didn’t look like the hospital. A small desk sat at one corner next to a bookshelf with a few framed photos and a trophy. A skateboard leaned against the desk. A pair of headphones were attached to a laptop. It looked like an ordinary boy’s bedroom.

“My room,” Rin said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t take you to the hospital.”

“It’s nice,” Sousuke said.

“Why did you do that?” Rin said. “You should have just pretended you didn’t know me. You could have gotten away.”

And since it had been years since he’d last been able to look at Rin, to touch him, Sousuke let himself indulge, running his good arm down the smooth skin of Rin’s arm to settle around his hand. “I guess I’ll have to quit the police force now they know I’m connected to you,” Sousuke said. “Shit, they’ll probably have to reopen all my old cases now.” He looked at Rin. “I’m not going to be much help to you anymore.”

RIn looked like he wanted to punch Sousuke again. “You’re so stupid. You’re going to join the Samezuka Sharks, of course,” he said.

“I’m wanted by now, probably,” Sousuke said. “I don’t want to drag you down--”

“So am I,” Rin snapped. “And anyway, I’ve got to keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t get shot again, you idiot.” His eyes were just a little too shiny and his voice wobbled. Rin swallowed and inhaled. “Anyway, we’ve got a great lead--that guy I caught knows something, and the photo--we can investigate the photo. I bet if we search the old records, we can figure out who those others are. The guy in the background with the tattoo--someone’ll recognize him.”

Despite the grin on his face, Sousuke could feel both Rin’s hands gripping his own like he was afraid to let go, and Sousuke reached out to touch Rin’s face with his free hand, ignoring the pain in his shoulder.

Rin let Sousuke draw him forward, red hair falling into his face. “I’m glad you’re safe,” Sousuke said.

Rin bit his lip and gave him a wobbly smile. “Are you still high on drugs?” he said.

Sousuke chuckled and winced. “Probably,” he agreed.

“You should get some sleep,” he said and stood up. “We can talk later.”

Rin stood by Sousuke’s bed for a moment, worrying at his lip, and then suddenly leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead. Then he darted out of the door, but not before Sousuke saw the red blush spread over his pale face, and for an instant, Rin looked like any ordinary young man instead of the gang leader feared by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.

Sousuke felt a smile spread over his own face as he leaned back again and let his eyes drift shut.

 

* * *

 

**Two months later…**

 

Sousuke kicked the door open to the underground drug den with his heavy combat boot.

“The first mission I give you after two months of recovery, and you’re late,” Rin said without looking back as he punched a man in the face and pulled out his small butterfly knife to aim at another.

“Sorry, I got lost,” Sousuke said.

Rin turned and gave Sousuke a once over before grinning. “It looks good on you,” he said, pausing to throw the knife at the man, pinning his hand to the wall.

Sousuke tugged on his black tanktop and slung the rocket launcher more securely over his shoulder. “You really wanted the rocket launcher? Are you trying to blow this whole building up?”

“I need the police here, and I need a distraction big enough that no one notices when one of them goes missing,” Rin said and grinned at him. “I still think we should have gone with red cargo pants or a red shirt,” he said. “Too bad you’re too huge to fit any of my shirts.”

Sousuke rolled his eyes and let Rin tug him out of the den again.

“Go on. Shoot,” Rin said once they were both far enough a distance away.

Sousuke shouldered the rocket launcher and aimed it at the drug den. “Here goes,” he said and let it fly.

The explosion rattled the ground beneath his feet, and then Rin was tugging him into a nearby alley where their getaway car was waiting. Sousuke tossed the rocket launcher in the backseat and holstered the semi-automatics that Rin handed him.

In the distance, he could already hear the sirens. He could see plumes of red smoke and dust rising from the remains of the building.

Rin grinned up at him as they edged back to the opening of the alley, affection and trust raw in his eyes. “Ready?” he said as the sirens grew louder.

Sousuke nodded. “Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> oneshot Ramsuke x Rinardo (even if it's pretty much just the outfits sorry i've never watched either movie haha i'm pretty much into this au purely for how hot sousuke looks ngl)


End file.
